A known method of winding a stator for a brushless DC motor is to support the stator at a winding station by means of a stator rotator assembly driven by a servomotor. Coils of wire are wound on the stator at the winding station by means of a rotating flier, which is similar to fliers used to wind armatures for universal electric motors, in cooperation with a wire-guiding assembly that guides the wire wound by rotation of the flier into a pair of coil-receiving slots in the stator core. As the winding of a stator progresses, the stator core is rotated about its axis by means of the stator rotator assembly to present different pairs of coil-receiving slots in position to receive coils wound by rotation of the flier. During the winding of stators for brushless DC motors, the need may arise to connect a stator coil lead wire segment, termed a "coil finish wire" herein, extending from the end of a freshly wound coil to a terminal member mounted on the stator core and to extend another lead wire segment, termed a "coil start wire" herein, from a terminal member to the beginning of the next coil to be wound. The wire strand used to form the stator coils may be severed when each coil finish wire is connected to a terminal member and before the succeeding start wire is connected to another terminal. However, it is also known not to sever the finish wires at the terminal members during the winding process; rather the wire used to wind the stator and make the lead wire connections extends uncut from a coil start wire terminal member for the first coil wound to a coil finish wire terminal member for the last coil wound. In such event, at a later stage of manufacture, the wire connections between terminals are cut away.
The terminology "terminal members" as used herein may comprise terminals made from conductive material which have wire-receiving cavities formed by slots or other surface configurations, in which case the coil lead wires can be permanently connected to the terminal members, as by hot staking operation, at a later stage of manufacture of a completed stator. Alternatively, the terminal members may be made from a non-conductive material, particularly plastic, and configured to hold the various start wires and finish wires in wire-receiving cavities therein. In a later stage of manufacture, conductive terminals may be connected to the terminal members and the lead wires. Another available alternative is to remove the coil lead wires from the terminal members and connect them to a separate terminal device, such as a printed circuit board, at a later stage in the manufacture of the stator. Thus, for purposes of the present invention, the term "terminal member" encompasses all structures, whether made from conductive or non-conductive material, mounted on a stator core for either temporary or permanent connection of lead wires thereto.